1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a waist adjusting device generally called waist adjuster or belt adjuster, which is capable of adjusting the length of a waist belt in clothes, for example, beltless trousers or skirts.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional waist adjusting device will be described next. A slider is attached by means of a fixing device to a rear face of a waist belt located outside at an overlapping portion of for example, beltless trousers or skirt as shown in FIG. 9. Then, an adjusting belt having adjusting protrusions arranged at a predetermined interval or if the adjusting belt is attached on the rear face of a narrow foundation 12, both the adjusting belt and the narrow foundation 12 are inserted through the slider. Both ends of the adjusting belt or narrow foundation 12 are sewed to the waist belt 6 located inside and then, an operating piece having engaging protrusions capable of engaging the adjusting protrusions is inserted into the slider from above. Consequently, the adjustment of the length of the waist is carried out.
An example of the structure of the waist adjusting device has been disclosed in for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 9-273013, as shown in FIG. 31. The adjusting belt 1xe2x80x2 has a plurality of adjusting protrusions 11xe2x80x2 provided at a predetermined interval on the surface thereof and the slider is comprised of a slider body 2xe2x80x2 having a through hole 20xe2x80x2 through which the adjusting belt 1xe2x80x2 is passed and an operating piece 7xe2x80x2 having engaging protrusions 72xe2x80x2 capable of engaging with the adjusting protrusions 11xe2x80x2 of adjusting belt 1xe2x80x2. The operating piece 7xe2x80x2 is inserted into an insertion hole 36xe2x80x2 in the slider body 2xe2x80x2 by pressing perpendicular to the adjusting belt 1xe2x80x2 inserted into the slider body 2xe2x80x2. The operating piece 7xe2x80x2 inserted into the slider body 2xe2x80x2 such that it is capable of coming in/out is urged in such a direction that it is protruded from the slider body 2xe2x80x2 by a wound spring 76xe2x80x2 mounted near an operating portion 74xe2x80x2.
In general, in the waist adjusting device of this kind, the slider is attached to a rear face of the waist belt located outside of the beltless trousers by means of the fixing device. The adjusting belt or both the adjusting belt and narrow foundation of which one end is fixed to the waist belt inside are inserted through the slider and then, free ends of the adjusting belt or adjusting belt and narrow foundation are sewed and fixed to the waist belt located inside. Therefore, a work for attaching the waist adjusting device to clothes such as the beltless trousers is very complicated and troublesome.
Particularly, the waist adjusting device shown in FIG. 35 is composed of an adjusting belt 1xe2x80x2, slider body 2xe2x80x2, operating piece 7xe2x80x2, wound spring 76xe2x80x2, and a fixing device 4xe2x80x2 consisting of hook 42xe2x80x2 and a washer 41xe2x80x2, so that many components are used thereby leading to an increase in production cost. Further, it takes much time and labor for the production. Meanwhile, the operating piece 7xe2x80x2 and elastic member are described to be formed by integral molding using resin, its specific configuration has not been explained clearly.
Accordingly, the present invention has been achieved in views of the above problems, and a first object of the invention is to provide a waist adjusting device which allows reduction of the number of components of a product to achieve reduction of production cost and allows the operating piece to exert its elastic performance with respect to a slider body so as to move smoothly, in which the slider body and operating piece can be produced very easily and which can be attached to clothes easily.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a waist adjusting device in which the adjusting belt or the adjusting belt and narrow foundation are attached to an inside waist belt by sewing both ends thereof and a slider fixed on the outside waist belt is attached to the adjusting belt whose both ends are fixed by deforming the slider elastically, thereby making it possible to assemble and attach the waist adjusting device very easily.
A third object of the present invention is to provide a waist adjusting device which can be attached easily to clothes such as beltless trousers and in which the slider can be divided to a surface plate and a rear plate, thereby making it possible to assemble and attach the waist adjusting device very easily. A further object is to provide a waist adjusting device which is composed of a slider which can be divided in different ways and which can be attached to the waist belt easily, so that not only assembly of the waist adjusting device can be carried out easily but also inventory thereof can be controlled easily.
A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a waist adjusting device which allows the operating piece to exert its elastic performance accurately so that the operating piece is capable of coming in and out with respect to the slider body appropriately.
A fifth object of the present invention is to provide a waist adjusting device which allows elasticity to be generated in the operating piece enabling an efficient actuation so that the operating piece is capable of coming in and out effectively.
A sixth object of the present invention is to provide a waist adjusting device which allows elastic leg portions provided to the operating piece to be elastically deformed in a stabilized state.
A seventh object of the present invention is to provide a waist adjusting device in which the operating piece is capable of sliding smoothly and accurately in a stabilized state without any deviation to the slider so that it is capable of coming in and out smoothly.
An eighth object of the present invention is to provide a waist adjusting device which allows the operating piece to exert its elastic performance effectively and accurately by forming the elastic leg portions provided on the operating piece so as not to collide with other member, for example, adjusting protrusions of the adjusting belt.
A ninth object of the present invention is to provide a waist adjusting device which can be produced easily by limiting the material of the waist adjusting device to thermoplastic resin, so that recycling of the material can be achieved.
A tenth object of the present invention is to provide a waist adjusting device which allows the slider body and fixing device to be produced very easily by specifying the configurations of the slider and fixing device, the waist adjusting device being suitable for molding of thermoplastic resin and capable of being attached firmly.
The other objects will be automatically understood by a following description.
To achieve the above object, according to the invention, there is provided a waist adjusting device, in which an adjusting belt has a plurality of adjusting protrusions on the surface thereof at a predetermined interval; a slider body contains a through portion through which the adjusting belt is capable of being inserted; attaching holes for attaching a fixing device are provided on a face of the through portion; insertion holes through which an operating piece is capable of being inserted are provided in upper and lower portions such that it is perpendicular to the through portion; slope portions are provided on both sides of a lower insertion hole; the operating piece has engaging protrusions capable of engaging with the adjusting protrusions provided on a face thereof and elastic leg portions provided integrally on both sides, the elastic leg portions making sliding contact with the slope portion and being capable of sliding thereon; and the operating piece is urged upward so as to allow the adjusting protrusions and the engaging protrusions to engage with each other. Consequently, the number of the components of the waist adjusting device can be reduced so that production cost can be also reduced. By cooperation between the slider body and operating piece, the operating piece is capable of exerting its elastic performance accurately. As a result, the operating piece is capable of coming in and out smoothly with respect to the slider body and further, the slider body and operating piece can be produced easily. Further, this waist adjusting device can be attached to clothes easily.
Preferably, the slider body has a gap portion provided in any one of top plate and bottom plate for connecting a surface plate and a rear plate to each other; and by elastically deforming the surface plate and the rear plate of the slider body so that the gap portion is expanded, the slider body can be mounted onto the adjusting belt of which both ends are fixed and which has the adjusting protrusions disposed at a predetermined interval. Consequently, part of the slider body can be separated and opened easily. Thus, the slider body can be attached later to the adjusting belt whose both ends are fixed. As a result, the later attachment type slider which has not been realized conventionally is achieved, so that production efficiency of clothes such as beltless trousers and Further preferably, the slider body may be comprised of a plate-like surface plate capable of being fixed to the waist belt and a plate-like rear plate capable of engaging with the surface plate; and fitting pieces are provided on any one of the surface plate and the rear plate and engaging pieces capable of engaging with the fitting pieces are provided on the other such that they oppose each other at top and bottom of the plates so that the surface plate and the rear plate are used separately to compose the slider body of the waist adjusting device. Consequently, attachment and assembly can be carried out very easily so that an effective attachment work is enabled. In case where the slider body is divided to the surface plate and the rear plate to be used, it is not necessary to stock a large amount of the surface plates and rear plates of the same combination for different type waist adjusting devices. By preparing diversified surface plates and rear plates different in color, pattern and type, it is possible to supply a waist adjusting device meeting user""s demand.
Further preferably, the elastic leg portions are disposed from a central portion of the main body of the operating piece such that they extend in parallel to the main body along substantially the same length as the main body; the engaging protrusions are provided on the main body of the operating piece such that they are protruded; an operating portion of the operating piece is always kept to be protruded from the slider body; and small protrusions are provided so that they collide with an edge portion of the upper insertion hole to prevent removal of the operating piece, thereby providing reliably the elasticity with the operating piece by a simple structure. Consequently, the pressing operation of the pressing piece can be carried out easily so that it is capable of coming in and out appropriately with respect to the slider.
Also preferably, part of the main body of the operating piece is inserted into the lower insertion hole provided in the slider body; ends of the elastic leg portions are kept to be in contact with the slope portion and slightly opened; and the small protrusions for preventing removal of the operating piece are provided on side faces of the operating portion. Consequently, the operating piece is capable of exerting its elastic performance enabling an efficient actuation, so that it is capable of coming in and out effectively.
Further preferably, a side wall is provided on the slope portion of the slider body on the side of the surface plate so that a concave groove is formed as a whole; and the ends of the elastic leg portions of the operating piece are in contact with the concave groove and capable of sliding thereon. Consequently, the ends of the elastic leg portions can be operated in a stabilized condition without slipping out of the slope portion and nor wobbling, so that a smooth sliding motion is secured.
Preferably, the slider body is rectangular and has a rectangular through hole provided vertically in the center of a rear plate thereof; attaching holes whose inner portions are expanded are provided in the surface plate opposing the through hole; and a fixing device has attaching posts whose ends are capable of being inserted into the attaching holes and crushed, on a rear face of a cap. Consequently, the slider body can be produced very easily and particularly, is suitable for molding using thermoplastic resin. Further, the slider body can be attached to the waist belt firmly. It is preferable to dispose a vertical pair of attaching holes and attaching posts.
Also preferably, a protruded ridge is provided on an inner face of each of both edge portions along the vertically long through hole provided on the rear plate of the slider; and the operating piece has long grooves extending to lower ends along both sides of a through hole provided vertically in the center of the main body of the operating piece so that the long grooves are capable of engaging with the protruded ridges of the slider body. Consequently, the operating piece is guided in a stabilized condition without wobbling with respect to the slider body, so that the operating piece can slide in and out of the slider body smoothly.
Further preferably, the elastic leg portions provided on both sides of the operating piece are formed thinner than the surface of the main body having the engaging protrusions. Consequently, the elastic leg portions provided on the operating piece can be prevented from colliding with the adjusting protrusions of the adjusting belt by such a simple structure, so that the elastic performance can be exerted effectively and accurately.
Preferably, the adjusting belt, slider body, fixing device and operating piece are formed of thermoplastic resin by injection molding or extruding molding. Consequently, the waist adjusting device can be produced very easily and further recycled. That is, the effects which the present invention exerts are very remarkable.